Happy New Month!

In Judaism, Rosh Chodesh, or the "celebration of the new month" is determined according to the lunar calendar, and this festivity just passed us by a week ago last Saturday. Dear readers, this holiday is hugely significant for all people of all religious affinities, and here's why:

Mythically, this festival is associated with the woman for a few reasons. Women gave up their precious mirrors in the biblical era to be utilized in the building of the temple. Moreover, in the Sin of the Golden Calf, women refused to contribute their jewelry to be dissolved for the purposes of a false, molten deity. God rewarded their zeal by absolving the woman of any obligation to work every month, on the first day of this cyclical lunar rejuvenation.

What's this got to do with me, you ask? Good question. The way I see it, there are contemporary proverbial mirrors that all persons should be giving up, for a higher purpose. Now, I'm not advocating for physical renunciation. It's just that sometimes, letting go of our dependency upon certain physical things which seem necessary to us, can actually be really edifying (even though wearing tight skirts gets us noticed, do the salivating stares from strange men really do us good?)

Also, to me, the golden calf has many modern manifestations, as we constantly create our own gods, we just call them "Money, celebrities, sports cars" and other such status symbols. These ladies refused to sacrifice their finery for a cause which felt inauthentic to them.

So, I urge us all to learn from the ancient Israelite woman and say NO to needless mirrors (remember: metaphor, metaphor, metaphor, I do not expect National Mirror Smashing here!) and refuse to give up our precious ornaments (chastity, propriety etc) for something that is false.

Comments

[Elin]

Shira, thanks for your post. I love your attention to the symbols of the biblical stories and how they can resonate for us today.

[Elodie]

Did you know that the plural of "woman" is actually "women"???
It's difficult to relate seriously to something that doesn't seem seriously written...

[hmm]

I thought she was using "woman" symbolically.